Phillit eley



IINTTED STATES PATENT Orrrcn.

PHILLII ELEY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 17,036, dated April 4, 1865.

To @ZZ whom t may concern..-

Be it known that I, PHILLIP ELEY, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Protector for Baskets; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure l is an exterior view of a basket with my improvement applied to it; Fig. 2, a detached horizontal section ot' a portion of the protector, taken in the line :v m, Fig. 1, Fig. 3, a detached section of a portion of the protector, taken in the line y y, Fig. l.

Similar letters otl reference indicate like parts.

This invention consists in applying a metallic frame to baskets, in order to protect the same or preserve them from wear or injury.

The invention is chieliy designed to be applied to large baskets, or those in which weighty substances are conveyed or carriedsuch, for instance, as bushel-baskets, used by farmers and others, coal-baskets, for carrying coal, &c. Baskets of this kind are soon worn out, broken, or destroyed, in consequence of the weighty substances carried in them, and a metallic frame renders them durable, serving as a support to the basket in holding its contents, and likewise protecting it from eX- ternal injuries, such as blows, concussions, &c.

One of the most desirable lways of constructing my protector is shown in the drawings.

I use a bottom plate, a, of sheet metal, of such dimension as to cover the bottom of the basket A, and from this bottom plate stand ards b project upward to a rim, c, which eX- tends around the top of the basket, the whole forming a metallic frame, which incloses the basket, as shown in Fig. l.

The standards b and rim c are of a thickness and width commensurate with the size of the basket. Four standards,1 b, may be used, or more, it' the basket be of large dimensions, and the bottom plate, a, may be secured to the bottom of the basket by a central bolt, d.

These metallic frames may be constructed of different sizes to suit different-sized baskets, and it would bedesirable to have each frame, whether large or small, so constructed as to be capable of being expanded and contracted to suit the slight variation in the size or dimensions of baskets designed to be of the same capacity. To e'ect this result I construct the rim c with a sliding joint, each end being provided with a'loop, e, to serve as guides, and the rim having a slot, f, made through it near each end for a bolt, g, to pass through. (SeeFig.2.) By thisarrangementthe riin c may be expanded or contracted to suit the upper part of the basket.

The standards b may be constructed of two parts, provided with guides h, with a pin or bolt, i, to pass through, one part being perforated with a series of holes, 7', to admit of the standards being lengthened or shortened, as desired.

lwo of the standards b b are provided with handles k k.

These frames may be constructed at a small cost, readily applied to a basket, and, if well made, will last an indelinitc period of time. In case of a basket becoming worn out or i11- jured, it may be taken out from the frame and 

